The Conversation

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Stars: Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, Gene Hackman, John Cazale

Year: 1974 Running Time: 113 mins Rating:

Tight, unnerving and masterfully constructed, Francis Ford Coppola's gripping thriller stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert whose obsessively guarded private life begins to unravel on his latest job. A professional eavesdropper, he's haunted by the time his 'bugging' cost the lives of three people and terrified that it's happening again. The concept was used to Oscar-winning effect in 2006's Best Foreign Film The Lives Of Others. Look out for a young Harrison Ford in a minor role.

Review

Shattering revelations can often be the garland round the neck of the well-made thriller.

But when they occur in five-second flashbacks, you'd better be sharp to keep up.

To say more would be going unfairly into the ingenious plot of this Francis Ford Coppola film, which features Gene Hackman as a professional eavesdropper haunted by the time his 'bugging' cost the lives of three people and terrified that it's happening again.

Hackman is excellent as the 'tapper', and the mood of his loneliness and isolation is well established.

But don't blink during the last reel.

A pre-stardom Teri Garr and Harrison Ford appear in minor roles.